
Spanish racing driverFernando Alonso has added a one-off Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse to his growing collection of rare cars. Known as chassis 8.100, the car is distinguished by bespoke aluminium bodywork that required more than 20 tonnes of aluminium to produce, along with dedicated CAD programmes developed by Bugatti. Its history is equally distinctive, being produced after an original customer pushed Bugatti to create something it had initially considered too expensive. For Alonso, the automobile fits closely with an approach to luxury he outlined in 2024 about choosing manufacturers that treat individual customers differently rather than simply producing cars in larger numbers. To know the aluminium casting demand forecast in the transportation sector, explore our report "Global...
Ducati has unveiled the Desmo450 SM, a new production supermoto developed from its Desmo450 MX platform, featuring an aluminium twin-spar frame. This is designed to combine low weight, rigidity and strength. The motorcycle made its debut during World Ducati Week and is aimed at competition use. The Desmo450 SM uses the same aluminium frame architecture as the motocross model. Ducati says the frame has also been designed to allow a straighter intake route while maintaining the strength and rigidity needed for high-performance riding. The bike has a fuel capacity of 7.2 litres. The company has also focused on reducing weight in other areas. Its Bartubeless wheel system, for example, removes inner tubes and cuts rotating and unsprung mass by 1.2kg. The motorcycle also features a cast...
Grow with
AL Circle

The European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA) is honoring achievements in pharmaceutical blister packaging in its annual Alufoil Trophy Awards in the category of Resource Efficiency. According to EAFA, the program is open to products either made from aluminium foil or containing aluminium foil as part of a laminate, structure, or packaging system, as well as aluminium closures. Amcor Flexibles was honored for its Formpack Ultra cold form blister for pharmaceutical products. According to the company, the material can be elongated more than standard cold form solutions, resulting in cavities that can be drawn deeper and with sharper wall angles than ever before. The resulting package can be either a smaller blister card or one featuring more cavities without an increase in blister card...

Once again the Alufoil Trophy competition has underlined the versatility and practical advantages of aluminium foil to create highly original new developments as well as fresh ideas to enhance existing products. The aluminium foil sector’s annual premier awards competition, the Alufoil Trophy brings out the best in both multinational and specialist foil manufacturers and converters. This year is no exception with 65 entries across the five major categories producing 10 outstanding winners, plus an Overall Excellence winner, which scored extremely high marks in all categories. “The ability to meet environmental and sustainability targets without losing any degree of performance or quality is very clearly demonstrated. In addition the technical innovations, to solve complex problems or meet...

The UK's leading aluminium foil tray manufacturers, i2r Packaging Solutions, have recently launched a range of tulip muffin aluminium foil wraps and greaseproof papers to expand their bakery offering. The initiative aims to position the firm as the only UK manufacturer to provide the baking industry with a one-stop-shop for both aluminium foil containers and FSC accredited tulip paper products, which can be branded and personalised. With a rustic and ‘made-at-home’ feel, filled samples of i2r’s tulip muffin wraps will launch the product on Stand B212 at the forthcoming Farm Shop and Deli Show at the NEC on 18-20th April. The wraps are available in a range of colours and print options. “With the requirement for food-to-go increasing and the demand for branded, personalised paper on the...

After the launch of Gatiman Express, the country's fastest train, Indian Railways is now going to hold trials for a faster train on the Palwal-Mathura route in May. Manufactured by Spanish locomotive-maker Talgo, the train made of aluminium is lighter and faster than Gatiman and can run at speeds of up to 220 kmph. Anil Saxena, additional director general and public relations officer of Railway Board said, "After Gatiman's successful launch, Railways is expected to conduct a guided trial run between Palwal and Mathura, a distance of 83.8 km, in May. If the trials are successful, then these trains will be operated between New Delhi and Mumbai, cutting the travel time from 17 hours by Rajdhani at present to around 12 hours." "Since the current track on New Delhi-Agra route is capable of...

Jaguar F-pace, the brand new crossover, which debuted at the Frankfurt Motor show and then at New Delhi Auto Expo earlier this year, is all set to hit the roads. It is the 3rd car to be built on Jaguar’s new Lightweight Aluminium Architecture following the XF and the XE. With it, Jaguar aims to gather attributes from other cars in the portfolio – not just the F-Type’s stunning design and performance, but also the XE’s value and accessibility, and the XF’s technology and brand image. What makes F-pace stand out among the recently lauched crossovers is its exclusive aluminium built. Jaguar has overcome a host of cost and formability related challenges and stuck to aluminium as the metal of choice. Such extensive use of aluminium in Jaguar F-pace has also endowed the car with a number of...

Merida Bikes International, the German engineered bike nanufacturer has formally announced details of its new Scultura Disc. The new Scultura Disc is available in both carbon-fibre and aluminium frame variants. The carbon-fibre models feature 12mm thru-axles front and rear, and 160mm disc rotors – following a trend in disc brake road bike design that we discussed in an article on road.cc last weekend – and a new means of heat dissipation. The Scultura is Merida’s lightweight race bike, already available in various different rim brake builds including the 4.55kg Scultura 9000 Ltd. “The brand new Scultura Disc… combines the comfortable but also stiff and efficient riding characteristics of the rim brake variant with the general benefits of disc brakes,” says Merida. “The whole...

Aston Martin will follow its recently unveiled DB11 with a minimum of five all-new models in the next four years. They will span three distinct model lines and form part of a plan to build 7000 cars per year by 2020. The DB11, a GT, was revealed at the recent Geneva motor show and will be on sale in the summer. It will be joined next year by an all-new Vantage sports car heavily inspired by the DB10 created for the James Bond film Spectre and by a replacement for the Vanquish in 2018. Both models will be built on versions of the DB11’s all-new aluminium architecture in Aston’s core sports and GT model line. By the end of the decade, Aston will also have on sale two models with no direct predecessors in new, separate model lines: the DBX crossover and an all-new Lagonda saloon. The model...

Meizu M3 Note has been unveiled in China with 6000 series aluminium unibody and mTouch 2.1 fingerprint scanner starting at CNY 799 and will be available for purchase from April 11. Dubbed as the budget friendly smartphone similar to that of critically acclaimed m1 note and m3 note, the latest release of aluminium unibody-m3 note also packs in a wide range of latest technological innovations widely found in competing smartphones. While the 2GB RAM variant, priced at CNY 799 ($125) is equipped with 16GB internal storage, the 3GB RAM is equipped with 32GB storage space with a price tag of CNY 999 ($155). Both models offer eMMC 5.1 solid state chip storage and come with microSD expansion slots, which also serve as a second SIM card slot. The aluminium uni-body, integrated with Meizu m3 Note...

The Micromill is Alcoa’s proprietary technology that manufactures the most advanced aluminium sheet on the market, according to Alcoa. Since being introduced in December 2014, Alcoa has achieved some significant breakthroughs, producing more formable aluminium sheet, with greater strength, lighter weight and higher formability. The Micromill process, according to Alcoa, changes the microstructure of the metal, producing an aluminium alloy sheet with unique microstructure that has 40 per cent greater formability and 30 per cent greater strength than the incumbent automotive aluminium sheet produced in rolling mills, all while at the same time meeting stringent automotive surface quality requirements. Moreover, automotive parts made with Micromill made material will be twice as formable and...

Benetti has launched the new 45 metre custom superyacht Domani this week for an Owner with a passion for cruising the world. The Owner’s fourth Benetti, Domani was built for an expert sailor who loves cruising with his family across the globe. His extensive experience, along with Benetti’s construction expertise, resulted in a superyacht suitable for intensive use. The external design of this four deck steel and aluminium yacht is the result of Benetti’s in-house design team while her interior styling was created by Carlo Galeazzi with considerable input from the owner and builder. The efficient use of space is one of the peculiarities of this below 500GT full displacement yacht, offering a deceptive amount of room for a 45 metre thanks to the use of established Benetti platforms. The sky...

Vivocom Intl Holdings Bhd’s (Vivocom) subsidiary, Neata Aluminium (M) Sdn Bhd (Neata), was awarded RM37.5 million worth of contracts yesterday, with the latest projects being Third Avenue Cyberjaya for an amount of RM22.5 million, and Kemensah Development for an amount of RM15 million for the supply and installation of aluminium works. This announcement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday is the latest in a series of solid wins for Neata, a subsidiary of Vivocom, a leading conglomerate in the sectors of construction, telecommunications and now manufacturing. “Since the acquisition by Vivocom last year, our business has grown by leaps and bounds, in particular our aluminium manufacturing and installation business. “We have secured almost RM80 million worth of contracts during the past nine months...

The recently launched Mazda CX-3, a taller version of the Mazda 2, certainly looks the part with chunkier appearance and immaculate exterior complemented by a simple yet modern interior. What impresses most with Mazda cars is the company’s KODO design language. On the CX-3, the language is expressed externally through short overhangs, powerful lines and striking proportions. The CX-3’s bold face centres on the grille and extends through the chromed signature wings into the headlamps. The rear combination lamps stretch from the body into the liftgate with a shape echoing the headlamps. The Mazda CX-3 features a 16-inch aluminium wheels on the Active and Dynamic models and 18-inch aluminium wheels which feature five sets of double spokes with a machined outer finish that contrasts with the...

Kengo Kuma and Associates has built an art centre with an intricate aluminium-moulded facade at a former cotton mill in China, which has been converted into a shop and office complex. Kengo Kuma's Japan-based firm converted the entire 10,440-square-metre mill to create the new retail, office and art centre called Wuxi Vanke, which is located near Taihu Lake on the outskirts of Shanghai. The art centre occupies an extension to the old brick building. Its complex facade comprises hundreds of cast aluminium panels, which are arranged in an alternating pattern of solid and void to give the building a wavy outline. The porous form of the metal panels is modelled on Taihu stone, a type of limestone with water-worn hollows and perforations common in the region. Each piece of aluminium was cast...

A new laptop unveiled by HP today will be the thinnest in the world. At 0.4 inches (10.4mm) thick, the Spectre 13 Ultrabook is thinner than AAA batteries and both thinner and lighter than Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air. It breaks the previous record held by its own 0.49-inch thick (12.4mm) EliteBook Folio G1 enterprise Ultrabook. In terms of weight, the new copper-toned notebook is not the lightest device around, weighing 2.45 pounds (1.11kg). Most of the body is dark grey aluminium with bronze along the sides. "Carbon fibre and aluminium craftsmanship give this device the look and feel of pure luxury. The two-tone finish on the copper-coloured spine is an example of the beauty of contrast," the company said. A big difference with this new model is that the new Spectre is powered by Intel...

In response to the recent furor over LG G5 smartphone make after reviews started flowing in from various markets where it has been launched, the mobile phone manufacturer has released a statement confirming “unequivocally” that the LG G5 unibody casing is built from aluminium. The handset’s design first came into question when a video released on a leading social media site showed that on being scratched, the outer layer of the handset revealed a plastic like casing. But LG completely denies that its new flagship smartphone is built from anything other than metal. “Contrary to erroneous reports online that the LG G5 body is composed of plastic, LG would like to state unequivocally that the uni-body casing of the G5 is composed of a special aluminium alloy, LM201,” writes LG. According to...

BEST (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking) in Mumbai got a revamped fleet of 83 buses last Sunday at a cost of INR 7 crore, with 147 more to arrive in the coming weeks. The buses have aluminium bodies, which will not corrode in Mumbai's weather, and a host of other features, including mobile charging points and a blower unit for drivers. The charging points have been introduced for the first time in non-AC buses in the country, officials said. Senior officials said the new fleet, created by remodelling some steel-body buses, will roll out from this week, promising a comfortable ride to commuters on busy office routes during peak hours. "The steel bodies would corrode during the monsoon and there would be complaints of buses rattling and roofs leaking. We have solved the...

GG Glass & Glazing, one of the UK’s leading contract glazing specialists, has opted for Supertrucks built from aluminium extrusions, for transporting glass sheets to retail outlets and other commercial premises where it supplies its range of products. Based on 7.5-tonne Isuzu chassis, the vehicles feature an innovative double A-frame design concept. This offers four facings and means sheets of glass measuring more than 3.2 metres in height and 4.5 metres in length can be crane-loaded from the rear. The first of the new trucks is now working from the GG Glass and Glazing’s Liverpool headquarters, with the second due to enter service shortly at a depot in Leeds, one of six which the company operates nationwide. St Helens-based Supertrucks, meanwhile, is the country’s number one manufacturer...

With consumption of beverages such as soft drinks in stylish, attractively contoured cans rapidly catching up with both urban youth as well as rural folk in the country, aluminium beverage can manufacturers like Rexam and Can-Pack are experiencing a consistent upward spiral in business. Interestingly, though the aluminium beverage cans market in the country is on a high growth trajectory, it is still to catch up with the Western and other developed countries. In fact, a large chunk of the Indian aluminium beverage cans market belongs to the beer segment. Shanker Gopalkrishnan, president, Madras Consultancy Group (management consulting, and market research services), Chennai, explains, “The total market share for aluminium 2-piece beverage cans was tiny compared to the global market of...